Building Networks & Joining Communities

 Networking is a nebulous concept that is necessary to grow in many fields, especially in the talent based industry of sports broadcasting where I find myself. Therefore, I'm incredibly grateful for the fact that The Connected Educator: Learning and Leading in a Digital Age, a book by Lani Ritter Hall and Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, the concept of networking is broken down to a science. However, as I tried to apply their thoughts on building networks and communities to my own field, I began to wonder where the line should be drawn between pure professionalism and natural connection when one is assembling their networks and communities.  

The Connected Educator began its analysis of assembling like minded with networks, which it defines as purely personal and based around your own individual learning. With this in mind, the book delves into how to vet those you decide to follow, encouraging you to analyze how they can benefit you and how valuable their online presence is. Unfortunately for me, this advice is incredibly hard to apply. Twitter is essentially LinkedIn for casters like myself, and it serves two functions: it connects me with other casters and connects me with my audience. As a result, its difficult to be as selective as this book suggests when I have to focus on growing my personal brand as well as my relationship with colleagues. The only parallel I can see is in The Connected Educator's discussion of group sizes, in which it outlines two schools of thought. In one, you should focus only on meaningful connections, limiting yourself to around 150, while in the other you treat your network like a river, picking information out from the stream of hundreds of sources. For me, the only way to balance my development with my brand is to look to the river analogy, which is what I'll do as I continue to expand its banks.

 The latter part of The Connected Educator turns its focus to building communities, groups with a focus on communal knowledge and development. Here is where the book truly gets in depth with its models of healthy communities, going so far as to define specific roles every member fills. From greeters to welcome engage newcomers to the lurkers who only consume, the books takes care to cover every aspect of founding a community. Luckily, as a newcomer myself in the field, I don't have to build something from the ground up. Communities I touched on last week such as Broadcast.gg are well established centers of learning, and from them several other sub communities have sprouted. Within, my role is most likely a "learner" by the book's definition, as I don't have a lot to add for the more experienced of the bunch. However, I hope as time goes by, I can find a healthy way to grow my presence without burning myself out.

Overall, what provoked the most thought for me in this section was how strictly professional it was. While I know that's the way most people use networking, personal connection is a massive factor in how networking works in the casting world. Without connection, broadcasts end up with subpar on air chemistry, which audiences pick up on with or without industry experience. As a result of that, I raise the question to anyone reading: How professional do your networks have to be? In your industry, is it better to be selective or not? How have you gone about making your network? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!